How Eric Holder Responded to Bobby Jindal's CPAC Segregationist Swipe

By Abby D. Phillip March 8, 2014

(Susan Walsh/AP Photo)

WASHINGTON - Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal has a special package coming to him by mail courtesy of Attorney General Eric Holder.

A copy of "Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement," which was written by civil rights leader and Georgia Rep. John Lewis has been sent to Jindal thanks to a red meat line the governor delivered at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday.

In his speech, Jindal railed against Holder and President Obama's Justice Department for initially attempting to blocking a state vouchers program on civil rights grounds, suggesting that they were trying to "stand in the schoolhouse door" to block the voucher program for minority kids.

"The Department of Justice is taking us to federal court to try to impede this program," Jindal said. "Now, I want you to think about this. We've got Eric Holder and the Department of Justice trying to stand in the schoolhouse door to prevent minority kids, low-income kids, kids who haven't had access to a great education the chance to go to better schools."

The "schoolhouse door" language isn't just creative prose, its an apparent reference to the famous "stand in the schoolhouse door" by segregationist Alabama Gov. George Wallace, during which he physically attempted to block black students from integrating the University of Alabama.

The Department of Justice is seeking greater federal oversight over the voucher program.

According to the Department of Justice press office, the book was sent to Jindal with a passage on Wallace's schoolhouse door stand flagged for good measure.

"This should help the Governor brush up on his history for the next time he invokes the civil rights movement," DOJ Press Secretary Kevin Lewis said in a statement.

Vivian Malone, one of the two black students Wallace sought to block from entering the University of Alabama, is Holder's sister-in-law.

Here are photos from the mailing, courtesy of DOJ:

(Department of Justice Press Office)

In response, Jindal tweeted out his rebuttal: